Six teams on Nash's trade "list", none Canadian

If Rick Nash makes his way out of Columbus this summer, it likely won't be to a Canadian NHL franchise.

The Columbus Dispatch reported on Tuesday that there are six teams he would be willing to be traded to - the Boston Bruins, Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks.

The news ends any speculation at this point that he could go to a Canadian team like the Vancouver Canucks or Toronto Maple Leafs. The Ottawa Senators were reportedly interested in acquiring Nash earlier this month.

Nash, the franchise's all-time leading scorer, had 30 goals and 29 assists with a minus-19 rating in 82 games for the Blue Jackets this past season.

Nash, 28, is signed through the 2014-15 season and carries an annual salary cap hit of $7.8 million. His contract includes a no-movement clause.

Every elite player comes with high cost. If Parise gets 7.5 mil. Than Nash is worth 10mil. Getting Nash with 7.8 mil cap hit is better than Parise for 13 years. Unfortunately what they ask in return is rediculous. Hope Kenny can work magic on this one and bring Nash to Detroit.

I like the idea of Nash, but it's all about the cost. If we're giving up Franzen, perhaps, but not Flip.

Why not? Detroit have 3 good centers but only 2 can be given top minutes on the scoring lines. This means Zetterberg must be moved to the wing, but both Datsyuk and Zetterberg are better than Filppula at center, while Nash is a better winger than Fillpula, and the natural goal scorer that we look to pair with Datsyuk.

The whole Rick Nash situation is just weird to me. Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson has very little leverage because (1) there are only a handful of trade partners Nash will approve of, and (2) everyone knows Nash wants out of Columbus, but Howson still wants the moon and the stars for him. I can't imagine that a disgruntled Nash will stay in Columbus another season, but if they don't lower the asking price I can't imagine who makes this deal.

Add to that the factor of time. The deeper into the offseason we get, and as the available salary cap space shrinks for teams (guys like Semin and Doan, whenever they sign, will eat up a decent amount of space for their respective club), Howson has even less flexibility. I'll definitely be interested to see how this plays out.

Every elite player comes with high cost. If Parise gets 7.5 mil. Than Nash is worth 10mil. Getting Nash with 7.8 mil cap hit is better than Parise for 13 years. Unfortunately what they ask in return is rediculous. Hope Kenny can work magic on this one and bring Nash to Detroit.

I agree that Nash is a better player than Parise and more of the type of player we need but Parise is not worth 7.5 and Nash is not worth 7.8 (esp when you factor in what we would have to give up to get him).i don't think he will be traded by the start of the season and the BJs will have to be more reasonable to get a deal done.

If Franzen and Filppula are involved in any potential Nash trade then they would need to be replaced by 2 top 6 forwards. Nash and Doan perhaps? This would make our yop 6 Dats, Z, Nash, Doan, Sammy and Cleary perhaps. Would Kenny give up Mule, Flip and Nyquist? I don't know. On one hand, I like Nash as a player and think he would do very well here. OTOH, to give up so many assets, I wonder if it would really be worth it. It's a tough call. I still believe Nash goes to the Rangers.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

Think for yourself. Question authority. Throughout human history as our species has faced the frightening, terrorizing fact that we do not know who we are or where we are going in this ocean of chance, it has been the authorities, the political, the religious, the educational authorities who attempted to comfort us by giving us order, rules, regulations, informing, forming in our minds their view of reality. To think for yourself you must question authority and learn how to put yourself in a state of vulnerable, open mindedness, chaotic, confused vulnerability to inform yourself.

"If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!" - Kierkegaard

If Franzen and Filppula are involved in any potential Nash trade then they would need to be replaced by 2 top 6 forwards. Nash and Doan perhaps? This would make our yop 6 Dats, Z, Nash, Doan, Sammy and Cleary perhaps. Would Kenny give up Mule, Flip and Nyquist? I don't know. On one hand, I like Nash as a player and think he would do very well here. OTOH, to give up so many assets, I wonder if it would really be worth it. It's a tough call. I still believe Nash goes to the Rangers.

If I had to put a percentage on the odds of Nash going somewhere, I'd say 60-70% that Nash is going to NY. Like 15% to the Wings, 10% anywhere else. Unless someone gives up a ton or the Rangers pull their offer, sooner or later Howson will figure the Rangers deal is the best he'll get and deal him out of the conference. I'm actually okay with giving up a bunch of assets for Nash, we already have plenty of forwards, so if we traded a few for Nash, that would be ideal. Plus, if we give up Flip and Franzen, the cap hit for Nash is next to nothing. Having said that, ideally, I'd like to see this deal get done without having to give up Franzen.

If Kenny trades Mule, Flip, Nyquist for Nash and then signs Doan and Semin then our forward group would be alright. Nash-Dats-Semin followed by Doan-Z-Sammy. 3rd line is Cleary-Helm-Bert followed by Eaves-Abby-Toots. Problem is, he will have blown all his tradeable assets and have none left to acquire a top 4 dman like Yandle. If Kenny is going to surrender assets it will likely be for the top 4 dman and not a player like Nash.

I can see us trying hard for Nash, but I can't see us giving up Flip, not because he's worth so much to us (which I think he is) but simply because I can't see Holland dumping him in Columbus after all he's given us over the years. If they do use him in a trade it'll be for Ryan so that Flip gets to play with Selanne and we can at least thank him for his service. For some reason I don't see a GM who history has shown respects his players so much, just dump a good promising player who has given his all for a team from the draft onto a bland team where he wont shine or have anything going for him. If Flip goes it'll be to Anaheim

One GM out of those 7 are going to cave and give Howson something ridiculous for him and most of will be glad we didn't give that much. i.e- 2 top 6 players, prospect & picks. For instance this is a blurb I found from Yahoo sports on a trade from Sather would have to put together for Howson back at the deadline, So the headline would have read: "Rangers trade Brandon Dubinsky, Ryan McDonagh, Derek Stepan, Chris Krieder and a first-round pick for Rick Nash."

That kid's is crazy and I want no part in this crazy man's idea of what he thinks is fair. Yes this article is from Feb. 28 but from what we hear Hoswon's price has not changed. Insane.

Nash is already 28 years old. If this goes another year he will be 29. He's only 3 years younger than Zetterberg and everyone on hfboards considers Z to be "aging." Furthermore he is a star "winger," these are less valuable than star dmen or centres as they don't have as much 2 way play or bang for their buck especially if they have a cold streak scoring. If we give up major youth and a talented roster player we only get 3 more years of Nash than we will Z and power forwards usually slow down earlier than most positions. I just don't see how this is viable for the future considering we will give up a lot of young assets that won't be able to fill future holes in the lineup.

I would consider Ryan to be a long term, better solution. I don't even know if the asking price is as crazy as Nash's but even if it is I would rather pay it for Ryan. The contract is better, he's only 25, has a RH shot and can play centre from time to time. This is a long term solution that would make it hurt less to lose some prospects as Ryan would potentially be around for another 10 years or so.

Here is my problem with a Nash trade. If we were to do this we wouldn't be able to get a top defenseman. I mean, literally, no chance in hell. It's gonna take a lot to get Nash from Columbus, and in doing so will remove all our assets for another trade. So the only recourse is free agency, and in doing that we wouldn't get a top defenseman. We'd end up with a serviceable one, but then nothing will come of it.

I'd rather we trade for Shea Weber or Keith Yandle. Hell, I'd like those or even someone else as long as we get a defenseman. I think our offense is good as it is, I mean it could always be better. But trading for one of the above and then signing a free agent forward or two would be a better investment in my opinion.

Nash is on one of the annually worst teams in the NHL, but i have a hard time giving up more than Franzen, Tatar, Andersson and a 2nd round pick (or a comparable package still involving Franzen and not Flip) for a guy who's never topped 80 pts making 7.8 mil per year.

Howson is out of his mind. Maybe the reason that Columbus has 1 good player is that no one wants to play there and their GM is a derp.